Murray crashes out

Andy Murray lost his first clay-court match of the season in straight sets to Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Monte Carlo Masters.

The 22-year-old Scot was out of sorts on Court Central as he was broken five times in total by Kohlschreiber, the world 33, to lose 6-2 6-1 in just over an hour.

Andy Murray

The loss continued the world number four’s poor form since reaching the Australian Open final, which has seen him now exit his last two tournaments at the first time of asking.

Murray reached the semi-finals at Monte Carlo last year and was given a wild card entry by the tournament organisers, following his late request to play, to kick-off his clay-court preparations ahead of next month’s French Open.

But his plans were dealt an immediate blow by Kohlschreiber following an abject performance.

The Scot was broken twice in the opening set, during which his usual fight for the contest was clearly lacking.

Kohlschreiber fed off his opponent’s lethargy before wrapping up the set when Murray hit a routine smash long from the net.

Things did not improve for the Scot in the second set when, after winning his opening service game, Kohlschreiber reeled off the next six to easily close out the match.

Murray admitted his form was poor after he also lost in straight sets against Mardy Fish, who was then outside the top 100, at the Miami Masters last time out.

“The last two tournaments have been bad. It’s been a long time since I lost a couple of matches like this,” he said. “I have to make sure that I don’t panic.”